Tributes
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - SHUNJI IWAI
For its 25th anniversary, Fantasia is proud to honour writer, director and video artist Shunji Iwai. His latest film, THE 12 DAY TALE OF THE MONSTER THAT DIED IN 8 – designed as a relief film for the Japanese film industry during the COVID-19 pandemic – perfectly captures the all-too-online moment in which we find ourselves. This is, however, only the latest example of Iwai’s preternatural talent for capturing and sublimating specific periods in life and culture: the unspoken feelings that accompany pivotal moments such as the end of elementary school (FIREWORKS, SHOULD WE SEE IT FROM THE OR THE BOTTOM?), moves to university (APRIL STORY), the uncertainty of marriage and adult life (A BRIDE FOR RIP VAN WINKLE), but also turn-of-the-millennium teen angst (ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU), and what it means to live in increasingly interconnected times, via message boards, dating apps, or simple letters sent from lover to lover, across eons of feeling and time (LOVE LETTER, LAST LETTER). A chronicler of our changing hearts and changing times, Iwai’s filmography stands as one of Japanese cinema’s most unique and influential contributions.
Selected Filmography
Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?(1995)
Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Vampire (2011)
A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (2016)
Last Letter (2018)
The 12 Days Tale of the Monster That Died in 8 (2020)
Picnic (1996)
April Story (1997)
Hana and Alice (2004)
The Case of Hana & Alice (2015)
Last Letter (2018)
Lifetime Achievement Award - Phil Tippett
In 2021, Fantasia is proud to honour director and visual effects sorcerer Phil Tippett with a Lifetime Achievement Award, for his original vision and his contributions to the advancement of the craft. From the original STAR WARS trilogy to the millennial TWILIGHT SAGA series, by way of ROBOCOP, JURASSIC PARK and STARSHIP TROOPERS, Tippett’s inventive, innovative, unforgettably iconic stop-motion creations have over the decades become universally familiar elements of our collective imagination. With his personal masterwork MAD GOD, making its North American premiere at Fantasia this summer, Tippett confirms that he’s not just a talented technician but indeed an artist of the highest order, with a profound vision and the skills, daring and dedication to share it.
See the films
Selected Filmography
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Return of the Jedi (1983)
Howard the Duck (1986)
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Evolution (2001)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Mad God (2021)
Piranha (1978)
Dragonslayer (1981)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
RoboCop (1987)
RoboCop 2 (1990)
Starship Troopers (1997)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)